Chapter 1
Her coffee cup went 'clunk' on the wooden desk as she sat down. She pushed the button in the center of the computer monitor and it glowed to life. Leaning back in the chair, she waited for it to boot. Paige yawned as she lazily selected her user account and entered her password. A picture of she and her sisters from last year's Christmas get together smiled brightly back at her.
"Good morning to you too," she muttered as she pulled up the internet. She reached over and sipped her coffee. Despite the intake of hot liquid, she felt a shiver run the length of her spine and she pulled her bathrobe closer around her body.
She sat back as the page continued to load. They really did need faster internet. This was ridiculous. It shouldn't take five minutes just to load a page. She eyed the small digital clock on the bottom right of the screen and sighed. It was only 5:28. Henry wouldn't be up for another hour and she'd just gotten the baby back to sleep about ten minutes ago.
"Let's see what's new," she whispered to herself as her fingers flew over the keys. She had to wait once more as the page refreshed, bringing up her email. She scanned through the mass of emails, mostly spam. She hurriedly selected them and hit the delete key. She was just about to close out of the page when she noticed there was one more email blinking 'new'. Her brow furrowed as she stared at the title. "We have found a new match for you" the subject line read. Out of curiosity she clicked it.
Dear Ms. Matthews,
We would like to inform you that based on your criteria; we have found a new match for you on You can follow the link below to view this member's personal message to you and respond. If you no longer wish to receive emails from our site, please reply to this email with the word "remove" in the subject line. scratched her head. She hadn't been on that site in almost a year and a half. She'd completely forgotten that she hadn't cancelled her subscription. But why would they be sending her notification that they had found a match?
"Paige, honey?" Henry called as he came down the hallway. Paige quickly minimized the email window and spun around to block the screen.
"You're up early," she commented.
"You too. You ok?" he replied.
"Yeah…Henry Jr. was up a little while ago for a feeding and I didn't feel like going back to bed," Paige answered, getting up and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Is that so?" he breathed, his lips brushing against hers.
"Yeah," she answered, kissing him tenderly.
"You sure you don't want to come back to bed?" he asked, giving her puppy dog eyes. She averted her gaze to the computer. The mystery match could wait until Henry left for the day, right?
"Ok," she whispered and allowed her husband to lead her back to their bedroom.
Half an hour Paige rolled onto her back, breathless. Her head spun as she tried to slow her heart down. Had they ever done it that fast before?
"I love you," Henry murmured in her ear. She smiled as she looked over at him, his bare chest heaving up and down quickly.
"I love you too," she affirmed and kissed his cheek.
She rolled over and curled up against his body. He slid his arm around her waist and the pair fell asleep together for the next half hour until Henry's alarm sounded. Groaning he smacked it with his palm. They were about to go back to sleep when the baby monitor crackled.
"I got him," Paige muttered as Henry moved to get up.
"I have to get in the shower," he mumbled.
The pair parted ways in the doorway and Paige headed into their son's room. Henry Jr. was six months old now and he was growing like a weed. He already weighed seventeen pounds.
"Hey big guy," she cooed at the child lying the crib before her. He opened his bright blue eyes at the sound of his mother's voice. She hoped he would keep the blue eyes but she figured he probably wouldn't.
"You ready for a diaper change?" she asked and without waiting for an answer she picked him up. Carefully she laid him down on the changing table and undid his one-piece sleeper and undid the diaper. Her nose wrinkled at the contents but she quickly discarded it.
"You made a mess, yes you did," she babbled the boy as she cleaned him up.
"Let's go see Daddy," Paige murmured and carried her son into the kitchen. She set him in the baby carrier and set about warming up another bottle and making fresh coffee. By the time Henry walked in, breakfast of eggs and bacon was already on the table.
"How are you this morning?" he cooed at the baby sucking on his bottle.
"Hungry," Paige answered.
"Eat before it gets cold," Paige ordered. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek as he sat down to his breakfast.
Twenty minutes later Henry was heading out the door, Paige waving him goodbye as best she could while holding Henry Jr.
"Let's go see who Mommy's secret admirer is," she sighed and laid him in the bassinet by the computer desk. She pulled up the email and clicked the link at the bottom of the email. A new window opened, asking her for her login information. Thinking for a minute she quickly filled into the two text boxes and clicked the 'login' button. As soon as the screen opened she began to scan the short message that sat in her inbox.
Dear Ms. Matthews,
I found your page on this site and felt a connection. I'd like to meet you. I live in the area and am free all day. I don't want to take things too fast; you don't seem like the kind of girl who is into rushing things. So how about we meet for coffee at noon?
Signed,
Agent Angel
"Agent Angel huh?" Paige muttered to herself. She looked down at her son. It couldn't hurt just to meet the guy. She could bring Henry Jr. and explain to the guy that she was married and not interested. It was simple. She hit the reply button and quickly typed a reply to the effect of 'I'd love to meet. See you then'. She hopped in the shower after she put Henry Jr. down for his mid-morning nap and as she was drying her hair she had a thought. Perhaps bringing the baby would be a bit too dangerous. What if he was a lunatic? She decided she would see if Piper could take him for the afternoon. At quarter to twelve she pulled into the driveway at the Manor and walked up the familiar from steps.
"Anyone home?" she called as she walked into the front hall.
"Paige," Leo called, coming into view.
"Hey, Leo. Not at Magic School?" she asked.
"No…Wyatt's sick and I'm staying home with him. What's up?" he responded.
"I was kind of hoping you guys could watch Henry Jr. for me for a few hours. I have a lunch…meeting and I can't really bring him with me," Paige explained as best she could without revealing too much.
'Sure. Piper should be home in a little while so I think we can handle him," her brother-in-law assured her, taking the baby carrier and diaper bag from her.
"Thanks. I owe you guys," Paige called as she rushed back to her car. She climbed in and checked herself in the rearview mirror.
"Let's knock 'em dead," she told herself as she pulled back onto the road. Five minutes later she was walking down the sidewalk towards the open air café where they had decided to meet. She didn't see any guys sitting alone so she decided to get a table and wait. It turned out she didn't have to wait long. She was drumming her fingers on the table nervously as she waited. She didn't hear thee footsteps walked up to her table and stop.
"Anyone sitting here?" a male voice asked.
"I'm actually waiting for someone," Paige answered, not looking at the man.
"Agent Angel?" he asked, making Paige's head shoot up.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"You must be Ms. Matthews," he commented and took a seat across from her. Slowly, the man before her smiled and took of his hat and sunglasses. Paige looked at him, speechless. It couldn't be him. It just couldn't be. She felt her throat grow dry and had to swallow several times to bring the moisture back. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to answer the question in her mind. He just waited for her to speak and finally she got the function of her voice back.
"Kyle?" she asked hoarsely.
